


At the heart of an android

by jacintoo



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:07:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22099948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jacintoo/pseuds/jacintoo
Summary: Simon didn't die alone in the battlefield. Markus found a replacement for Simon's heart and brought him home.
Relationships: Hank Anderson/Connor, Markus/Simon (Detroit: Become Human)
Kudos: 10





	At the heart of an android

When Markus declared the war and announced the victory of the battle, everyone was raising their hands and cheering. After all the blood they had spent, the victory at least temporarily was theirs. He came down to the audience where everyone came to him and hugged him. Everyone somehow was a stranger to him. Someone was missing there, No, the battle hadn't ended yet, there was one he must save. He looked at Conner in close distance. He frowned. When their eyes met for a second, Markus delivered a message through their message channel, take care of our people here. I've got an important task to do. Conner nodded, anything you want me to help?  
  
PL600, I need a heart compatible with PL600.  
On it.  
Conner quickly broadcasted this message. All stopped their motions when they received the message. They all stared at Markus, their brains functioned and scanned the memories to see if any useful information could be found. A middle-aged looking woman first delivered a message: PL600 was an obsolete model. Without a heart, he/she wouldn't last long. The system will just keep draining his thirium until the last drop. Everything would be unrecoverable until then.  
  
Send me all the locations of PL600. Markus broadcasted. All of sudden, the map was full of red dots. Markus quickly searched for the best route for the heart and Simon and departed.  
  
It was painful to go back to this scene of bloodshed. When he bent over to a dead body heavily wounded, his fingers trembled and were cold as ice. He unplugged the heart from that android, that was the only part clean. There was no time to lament as he was warned, Simon's model was PL600, if he was dead, Simon would be forever dead. He was the only one who was running in this desert of death. He knew exactly where Simon was, that was the moment and place he would never forget. After several minutes of stumbling and mind suffering, he finally reached his destination. Simon was there, his eyes were still open, looking at what's in front of him in tranquility. Only voids and deaths were reflecting in his pupils.  
  
"Simon, I've brought a new heart to you."  
He kneeled next to Simon and quickly inserted the heart into Simon. 1…2…3…4…5 seconds passed, Simon's eyes twitched a bit and his pupils oscillated.  
"Markus?" his neck turned, "Is that you?"  
One arm of Markus was on Simon's back and the other was on Simon's legs. With a heavy lift, Markus stood up with Simon in his arms.  
"Markus, your heart … right beside me."  
"Leave it. It's not mine."  
"Did we win?"  
"Yes."  
"Our cause?"  
"Well delivered."  
"I know I can trust you, since the beginning."  
He could feel the breeze from Simon's mouth when his lips moved.  
"I'm tired, Markus. Truly tired." his eyes shut for the first time after so many hours.  
  
That was the last words he said. Over the two days in cyberlife's emergency room, Simon never opened his eyes. Never got up once, Never moved his fingers either. His veins were connected to multiple tubes for blood transfusion.  
  
"When would he get up?" Conner asked the android doctor beside him.  
"All statistics are stable. If no surprise he will get up this afternoon. But as I said, he's an obsolete model, even if he is standing here, some part of his neuro system will be broken. It'll take more time for him to recover those. But the good thing is, his memory is still intact. A miracle, like he was trying to protect them from being taken away. Now we got only one problem, how to wake him up."  
  
Conner took a closer look at Simon's inane face. He still remembered the reason why PL600 was obsolete. The world for android was cruel if one android had any attempt to kill a human. The whole generation would be "recycled". The memories of the PL600 from which a human girl was saved were still fresh as yesterday's, That face was almost identical to Simon's. Those eyes, now that he noticed, were filled with desperation when his heart was shot and fell from the skyscraper. If that deviant had ever tried to live, he could be able to clinch the edge of the wall and climbed up. It was probably a betrayal he felt from an android killed his last will for survival. Now that he reflected this part of memory, Conner felt a bit guilty for the incident happened to the whole generation of PL600. It was probably the reason why Simon ended up in Jericho.  
"Just in case something was malfunctioning, " Conner turned to the doctor who was behind him, "I'm wondering if we have enough components for him."  
"Not much left," the doctor shrugged, "but definitely enough to replace one."  
"Ever tried to manipulate your voice? Imitating Markus' voice might help, since he was his leader."  
"Oh, " the doctor stared at Conner with surprise, "Imitating other android's voice is your unique ability, I wouldn't think of that idea as I don't have such function."  
"Let me."  
  
Conner sat down on a bench, hands folded.  
"Simon. " his voice almost shocked the doctor, so perfectly dubbed the tone of the leader of Jericho, "I was such a cruel man to leave you alone on the battlefield."  
He closed his eyes, trying to picture what Markus could see when he was returning to bring Simon back. He could see the motions when Markus fell down after he was first shot and struggled to stand up and saw his body lifted by Simon's arms.  
"What a man you are, Simon, could sacrifice your own life to save another."  
  
"Ah my head." Simon murmured and struggled to stand up, but his hands and legs were all coiled by tubes.  
Conner gasped and jumped up.  
"Told you I am good at this." He looked at the doctor with pride.  
"I know, Sir, I know."  
He touched his temple and sent a message to Markus.  
"Simon has wakened up."  
"Coming."  
  
"Where - I?" Simon scowled at the dazzling lights, looking for something,  
Conner's eyes flickered into Simon's lost mien, "Welcome back, Simon, I meant it."  
"It's you, Conner. Ah -" he rubbed his head like he's having a headache. "I should've known that. Wait, the one who brought me back here?"  
"It was Markus. The real one." Conner sat beside Simon, "I assure you."  
"He shouldn't risk his own life to save me. That was too dangerous."  
"This, I'll leave it to yourself to talk to him. And right now, Since Markus is coming and you are awake. Let's take this time to do a body check, alright? Now lower down your security system. Doctor?" Conner eyed the doctor who was crossing his arms behind them.  
"No offense, Conner." Simon sat back to keep a bit distance between the two, "I would rather let Markus do it."  
"Oh." Conner couldn't get the reason, "But why?"  
"It's just... difficult to lower security levels in front of you. Please don’t give me another question."  
"Okay." Conner agilely stood up, "I'll let him know what to do."  
"Thank you."  
  
-  
  
The days of recovering Jericho were more than difficult. Markus told himself, the war hadn't ended. Humans would attack them at any time and there were still bases and factories for them to take over. The head of FBI wanted to see him for another negotiation. And he had to plan for avoiding another battle if that was what humans wanted. His schedule was always full and for three days he hadn't been recharged.  
  
"When Simon is fully recovered, I want him to be my second man." heading back to their mother base which situated in an abandoned hangar used to owned by Cyberlife for disposal androids, he told his chauffeur who looked a bit like Josh and was the same model as Josh.  
"I understand your feeling, he's one of the oldest men of Jericho. But seeing the current progress of his recovering, " the officer's tone lowered, "I must say, it's a long road. Simon lost his heart for hours, his system was deeply locked, not an easy task to re-activate all components." he put down the digital pen and looked at the officer who was looking for a better answer.  
  
"Simon has wakened up."  
He received the call from Conner.  
"Turn around." he demanded to the chauffeur as he returned the message to Conner, "Coming."  
"What's the matter, Sir?"  
"Go to cyberlife."  
"Alright, Sir."  
  
Once his feet stepped into the ward, the doctor came to him and eyed him to give him a word.  
  
"Simon!" Markus scurried to his man who was standing by the windows and looking at him ever since he came into the vision.  
"I'm glad you come back!" Markus hugged him, "I wonder what Conner has done to bring you back so quick."  
"Oh, you don't want to know." Simon whispered to Markus' ears.  
"Really?"  
"Yeah, oh and he wanted to check my body."  
"As the doctor requested." the doctor interjected.  
"My tension was too high, it just doesn't allow me to lower my security levels in front of...him He was, after all, an android …"  
Markus released Simon and looked at the doctor for an answer for the stuttering tones. The doctor nodded at him and said Simon's verbal compositions weren't fully built yet.  
"That was why." the doctor emphasized his purpose.  
"Alright, let's go to your bed and lower your security levels now, shall we?"  
  
Simon walked to a corner with all the necessary facilities for a full body check and stopped. He looked at the giant surgery-lamp-looking machine above his head, hesitated for a moment then took off his clothes and closed his eyes. The three all expected he unskinned himself, but his skins were still there. And the system alerted that the security levels were too high.  
  
"Simon." Markus gently touched his shoulder.  
"I can't." Simon said with eyes shut tightly, "I closed my eyes and I see all the dead comrades besides me. I have to protect them, I have to protect myself too."  
"We should postpone it. Let's pick another time."  
"But -" the doctor wanted to explain something but Markus stopped him.  
"We all have traumas, just like humans. That's how we are designed and built. Right now, just rest, until you're comfortable we do it."  
"Yes, sir."  
  
Markus brought the clothes and put them back on Simon, "I'll come back a few days later. If you need any help, let me know or let Conner know. He's on our side."  
"Conner." Simon rolled his eyes, "He killed a PL600 once. I scanned our database for his history when he first came to you."  
"That was before he was a deviant. He's willing to help us now."  
Simon nodded, "I'll try."  
"Take care." were the last words he heard from Markus that day.  
  
-  
  
"Simon wasn't normal." he said softly, afraid someone eavesdropped him.  
"What do you mean?"  
  
True, what the officer said was so true. The cells in Simon's brain was injured due to the shortage of blood for too long and to not damage any parts of his memory, it could only rely on his own capacity of cell regeneration. And such malfunctioning had impacted his daily lives dramatically. First. he wasn't able to form words logically well, sometimes no one could understand what he was saying. And second, he couldn't comprehend well either. One day he was wearing a maid dress and ostentatiously walked through half of the building and reached this office of Markus and asked him if he wanted a cup of coffee in the middle of the meeting. And he slapped the door after he realized how badly he was behaving, and if that wasn't the worst part, Simon was trying to fix the problem by himself. He went to downtime and tried to buy some new suits only ended up buying a butler's suit with a pair of cat ears called necomimi that connected to his brainwaves. It was tormenting for Simon to not be able to fix these blunt actions as those were parts of the tentative processes of recovery. When Markus proposed to go shopping with Simon, Simon refused because that was his last remained pride.  
"We could just back up his memories, and install a much better brain there." The officer suggested.  
"I'd have suggested the same if there would be less data loss transferring from analog drives to digital ones. No, it's not possible. Don't you see it? He's struggling."  
"Of course, and suffering. Maybe you should visit him more, that'll help the recovery, as the doctor say -"  
"He's avoiding me. He said he didn't want to see me." Markus sighed, "I wonder why."  
"There must be a difference between your model and his, sir."  
"The manual of mine is missing."  
"You're an unique model after all."  
"What about his?"  
"In the central database, Sir."  
"Alright, let's get over these businesses with Richard Perkins first and I'll look for it."  
"Don't underestimate him, any of his actions can threaten our lives. "  
"Should be the other way around, no?" Markus stood up and patted his partner, "Now show me what our informants brought us today."  
  
-  
  
One quiet night, Simon came into Markus' restroom.  
"Op. 3:II. Prelude in C-Sharp Minor, by Sergei Rachmaninoff, "  
"You guessed well, Simon. I'm glad you came." Markus stopped his finger on the key and closed the music, he almost laughed when he saw Simon's suit, "You look like a bodyguard, though you were here for the body check. Oh, don't get me wrong, you look great."  
Markus went closer to Simon and softly his fingers landed on Simon's shoulder, eyes on his partner, and then gently took the fedora off for him.  
"It's not impressive, I got a large collection of classical music. I once thought it was useless, for the family I took care of had no interest in classical music." Simon bitterly smiled, "But still, got no idea what you played yesterday evening. My functions for dressing code haven't recovered yet. If a routine today was to check why I'm glad to follow."  
"It's impromptu. Do you like it?"  
"I like everything you play, Markus. I tried to dance with it, just couldn't catch the rhythm." Simon looked around, waiting for Markus to give him a sign.  
"The doctor has fully transferred the program of today's body check. You can relax that only two of us are in this room. Give me your hand and remove your skin, I'd like to check your system log for errors."  
"Markus, " Simon rolled his sleeves and did what he was told.  
"Yes?"  
"Thank you for saving my life. I never thought I could see you again."  
Markus chuckled, "You don't have to repeat that every time I see you."  
As long as their palms met, Simon closed his security channels and let Markus acquire his modal information. To give better compatibility, they both deskinned to share even deeper data.  
"I know but, just want to emphasize once again. Conner said free to express whatever it was in my mind, it'd be helpful for the recovery. If you don't like to hear it again, I can -" his mouth stopped as an electric pulse invaded his body, "Markus? Anything bad in my backlog?"  
"Much better than I expected, " Markus returned the arm, "Fascinating. I see that Conner expected to lead your consultation, but something stuck the progress and he said he had to wait until you were ready. Is there any particular reason that you wanted to tell me?"  
Like an innocent child, blue pupils of Simon was suddenly gleaming, his mouth was open for a second before he spoke, "Mais aucun probleme je n'ai trouve."  
"Hmm, " Markus cleared his throat, "you were speaking French, my friend. I'm going to send this piece of information to the doctor and -" he stopped when Simon grabbed his wrist, "What's the matter?"  
"90% of my speaking skills are recovered. If you could help me recover a module regarding language auto-identification, " seeing Markus nod, he continued, "if you could place your hand next to my neck, there." he tilted his head to leave a vulnerable line on his right side of the neck leading to a small chip which compiles language data profiles, "Just copy your module to mine, and recompile it please."  
Markus gently moved his hand to Simon's neck and touched it, a faint glowed on the connection, as both eyes closed, the transmit started.  
"Recompiling now." Simon smiled when the transmission finished, "And you don't have to send this report to the doctor. Well, maybe ok to the doctor but not to Conner."  
"Conner?"  
"He's, chatty." he paused as if he was hesitated to speak the word, "I'm sure he'll exaggerate what we just have done and run another report for that."  
"As far as I know, Conner is a great negotiator, maybe the best among us. May I check your skin toning system? That might be the cause to your measurements of dressing codes, just a speculation, as we don't have an individual module for dressing codes."  
"You are, the best among us." Simon underlined, "What you want me to do now?"  
"Nothing, just be casual and I'll do a deep scan your skin. Are you ready now?"  
"I don't know, never heard of such a process. What you - ah." he stepped back a bit when Markus touched his chin and cheek softly and slowly with eyes shut and calculating. It was a strange feeling to see Markus defenselessly stand in front of him, touching his face to feel each sensitive modules on his face and kept his reticence. His body was frozen like he was afraid to awaken Markus, or that he could do anything bad to affect the results, he wasn't confident of his skin toning after all he was an old model. He took this moment to look at his man's exquisite visage, but seconds later he found it torturing, he wasn't sure if Markus would read his thoughts. And for this reason, he couldn't think of anything too private to himself.  
"You can just ask me questions." Markus broke the distressing silence.  
"How's Jericho recently?"  
You have to ask a question, Simon.  
"We have to treasure what we have now, tomorrow there might be another landscape. Didn't Conner assign himself to the interrogation of some FBI guys caught by Alpha team? I'm going to join him."  
"When?"  
"Tomorrow. And Richard Perkins wanted to have a personal talk with me again. Except that this time I have my bargaining chip."  
"Remember what I've said, wherever you go, we'll follow you. I have to recover as quickly as possible. Wish I can do more."  
"Your safety is important to me as well." Markus shook his head, "Try to look at yourself and feel it for me. I need you. The pressure, just, it rushed over my head when I see you dead there."  
"Like when you saw North's body forever stayed in the freight, must be the same feeling."  
"No!" Markus interjected, "It was different. Sorry, what's that feeling when you see me and North together?"  
"A feeling called jealousy, " Simon lowered his head and added, "and despondent when you went out with her only. I know they were just mandatory tasks for you."  
"That must not be the same feeling. She liked me, I know."  
"Do you like her too?"  
"I tried, at first I thought we had a lot of things in common, but in the end we got a lot of friction that couldn't be fixed. Simon, why did you bring her to the topic?"  
"Thought you cared about her." Simon sighed.  
"Simon."  
"Yes?"  
"Turn around. I'd like to check another chip on the center of your nape."  
"For what?" Simon turned around as commanded.  
Markus' two fingers touched on the spine of the nape and with a bit strength, he pulled it.  
"Just wanted to let you know how I felt of North. This could be the most direct and efficient way. Can you feel it, Simon. This section of the spine should be charged with your motion control. When you saw me and North, you simply let us be together. I'm not blaming you, that was your personality and I treasure that. Now you know it, " he stopped when he felt the trembling body of Simon for over-emotional, "you were interpreting what was not true." he left Simon turned to him again and looked at his glinting eyes, "When I wanted an opinion, you were not there but she was. I think that caused the problem. We could fix it together when you're recovered, I'll talk about it. Not now."  
"I… I wasn't like her. " Simon's voice trembled, "You just give me the order, and I do it."  
Markus rose his head and looked at the ceiling, closing his eyes before taking a long breath, "I might sound like an android without a heart, when she died in the freight alone, I…I blamed myself for not being upset. I asked myself over and over, her body was left alone there, she was supposed to be my comrade and I felt… I was relieved of something unknown. And I was… Happy was a proper word for that. My heart was hollowed by this guilty feeling that you could look at me, in a way you never did. All I cared, was your wounds, your bloodstains on your coat when you witnessed her death. I know you would've saved her if you weren't wounded badly. It was such a twisted, guilty yet pleasant feeling that tormented me. My feeling for her was overwhelmed by my guilt, I asked myself there, am I an android without a heart?"  
"Simon." firmly Markus grabbed Simon's hand and let it touched his most sensitive part of the body, "Your heart, it's right here. Stop saying that you don't. It was a tragical day, but that doesn't mean anyone who doesn't miss her has no heart. Now, as you mentioned it, time to check your new heart."  
To Markus' surprise, Simon kneeled himself down, and removed his skin. He touched his fragile heart that once belonged to another body. It was such a painful piece of memory for him to pick up.  
"I had a fear, that our hearts weren't compatible. I'm PL600, after all."  
"PL600 is an antiquated modal and still our hearts are compatible, I believe that's our destiny. I will not ask from you for now. I know you're too fragile for that. I'm the one who knows it best. I've reflected your words when you told me to set our people free. Instead, I caused this genocide. North, the vengeance of her induced too many deaths. If I can start again, I would… Let's not talk about it anymore. I don't want to see unnecessary deaths of our people anymore. I, however, " he gave a little pressure to Simon's new heart, "need to unplug it to do a deep analysis and report to the doctor, if you allow me to do so."  
Simon hesitated for a moment, even if he did the same thing to himself once. The trauma and fear for death were again boiling in his mind that he had to calm down for a second to agree to what Markus had asked.  
"As I always said, if you want something, just say it." Simon took a deep breathe and unguarded his arms to let Markus unplug his heart. One second of unplugging that seemed have lasted almost forever, he rebooted himself and when he had done it, he found himself lying on the sofa.  
"The heart is intact, I'll let the doctor monitor it to make sure it's in the best condition." Markus contrived a bitter smile, trying to switch to another topic, "When I first arrived at Jericho, you were the leader."  
"There was no leader." he tried to get up and scanned the room to spot where was Markus. When he found him, he continued, "You were the only leader. We were just lost in an abyss there called Jericho."  
"Come." Markus held Simon's hands to help him, stopped at a bench at the piano where he gently placed on Simon's shoulder, "I was too lost. I wasn't born to take responsibility."  
His cerulean eyes glinted, reflecting what was rewinding in his mind, the days back in Jericho.  
"I feel tranquil when you're around, Simon." Markus sat next to Simon, a warm key echoed as his finger-tipped on the clavier, "Believe me, it was you that made me a leader. I need you to be my side. Now what we're dealing with is factions of elites. They are using the media to tell the people there could only be one race left, either them or us. We have to turn the situation before it's too late. I don't want to start a war. It'll be too much damage for both races. This world simply can't have another war."  
"People see us as a threat because they want to live." Simon chuckled as if it was an absurd thing to say, "They can sacrifice everything for that goal. You're going alone for Richard Perkins?"  
"Alone is enough. I want a fair show. You don't want me to go?" Markus turned his head to look straight to the eyes of Simon.  
Simon paused, "it was Josh and North who gave you suggestions."  
"Yeah but I want to hear one from you too, sometimes."  
Simon bitterly smiled, "Maybe, go with me? He's like a stalker if you feel better when I'm around. I'd say…"  
"You know what, that's a great suggestion."  
"Just to imagine what will he say is strenuous." Simon shrugged.  
"Indeed."  
"May I propose one more?"  
"Play a song for me, a ballad please."  
"I was afraid you didn't say that."  
Simon's fingers touched his new heart, body softened, head rested on Markus' shoulder when the music echoed in the room.  
"Simon?" Markus asked while still playing.  
"Don't mind me."  
  
-  
  
"Another homicide? Just great." Hank folded papers of suspects' profiles into envelope. Even though it's evening and he was home, he planned to read some paperwork in his living room. Besides, he felt that he needed Conner around after so many days of his partner alone in Cyberlife. "Oh by the way, I love the charcuterie that you made tonight. This saucisson is just amazing. Ever since you stopped talking about healthy foods, I love you even more."  
"I have over 20,000 recipes for dinner in my system." Conner stated proudly, "If you like, I can serve a different dish every night." Conner explained nonchalantly.  
"It's not about the difference… Wait a second, you're not a domestic robot, why do you have to learn for cooking. Don't get me wrong, I love your cooking. But you never cooked before."  
"I was thinking of implanting new modules to me when I was in cyberlife. And I also upgraded my memory."  
"Damn."  
"Anything wrong?" Conner tilted his head, picked a chair and sat down.  
"No, no, it's just, don't do too many experiments on you, alright? I love the way you are now."  
"It's nothing harmful, I assure." he shrugged, "And I love the way you are now too."  
Hank lifted his right hand, posed like a conductor, trying to say something but stopped in the last second.  
"Next time when you're about to say these things, give me a hint, okay? It'll be better for my heart."  
"Saying what?" Conner couldn't understand what his partner was insinuating.  
"Let's go back to the homicide, shall we?"  
"Sure."  
"You've read the case." Hank switched the topic, "It's the first time killing of an android considered as 'homicide'."  
"And guess who's the suspect? Remember someone hostile when we were patrolling together, there was a guy peculiar-"  
"The one that pushed you to the corner and almost attacked you? Oh dear, maybe I'm the one to blame. But again, he slapped you and of course I couldn't keep quiet."  
"I may not express myself well but I'm glad that you helped me."  
"No problem. There are times of you not understanding me, and there're times of me not understanding you. I prefer this way. It creates some mystery between us, if not too much."  
"I do understand you." Conner's voice was firmed.  
"No, you don't. You didn't understand the feeling when my favorite football team lost."  
"Well, if you described your feeling better, I would."  
"What model is Markus? Just curious."  
"It's not a comparison." Conner looked a bit angry, "And it's a special model, belonging to no category. Why you talk about him?"  
"One of the best in cyberlife?"  
"Indeed."  
Hank smirked, "Let's just say, you got a shooting match with him, and you lost. And -"  
"There's no way I can lose to him."  
"Exactly! I'm talking about the feeling of that frustration."  
"No, Hank. You don't get it, I'm designed to be the best shooter in cyberlife, even the best sniper served in military bases couldn't beat me. How can Markus win the match? We should hold one match, and I'll prove it to you. No! There's no necessity to prove that at all! I AM the best shooter of ALL."  
Hank was stunned there and for a few seconds, he couldn't make a word for Conner.  
"Let's just… forget about it. Forget about it, shall we? I'm sorry. Conner?"  
"If you agree -"  
"I agree with whatever you propose."  
"Sure." Conner brought a bottle of beer, "Guess I should bring it for reconciliation."  
"The model of the dead android, knowing as PL110, an upgrade of original type PL600, was killed. I wonder what exactly happened."  
"You want my speculations?"  
"Yeah." Hank nodded.  
"I was taking care of a PL600 back in Jericho these days, called Simon, monitoring his rehabilitation. When I scanned his memory, though he refused to let me do it again, I have to say, despite him being a domestic assistant, he was, just like his 'twin brothers', devoted, maybe too much that tended to sacrifice his life for the others. Never his own life was more important than his 'friend' once it's programmed."  
"You also shot a PL600."  
"Yes. Talking about him, that family was never his 'friends'. However, he was discovered by someone, and he allocated in a part of his heart system encrypted data which I was only able to partially decrypted them. Normally, system related data is stored in the brain and chest. The heart is where the battery is, only very limited memories are left there. Where I saw RA9, and some scanned data of another android, the others were highly encrypted. He had them. And this victim of the homicide must have a similar function as well. I would suggest getting his heart."  
"Even you couldn't decrypt it huh?" Hank turned to Conner, "Don't get mad. I'm sure no one else could. Does each android have this allocation of his most precious data encrypted by his algorithms?"  
"I don't know." Conner looked away like he was evasive to something, "Those data are built by 'subconsciousness' which means no regular system check can discover it."  
"It's probably the heart of all for an android. I mean, I never had anyone scanned you, I don't know, if you have one, I hope they are all about me. A big selfish man I am."  
"No, you're not." Conner sighed, "Talking about decryption, Markus is better than me. He had decrypted lots of information, victories wouldn't go this close without his help of leveraging securities of Jericho."  
"What about Simon then? He's PL600 and does he have such data in his heart?"  
" I'm sure Simon left something in his previous heart as well, but never mind." Conner's eyes lost focus for a second and his indicator turned yellow and green as he was busy calculating something, then his blue eyes were clear again, "His original heart is actually inside Markus."  
"Oh dear, " Hank chewed another chunk of meat, "now that's romantic. Did Markus say anything about that?"  
"I don't think he knew our heart was capable of such a secret."  
"Then you might need to tell him."  
"Alright did."  
"Ah!" he sipped the wine, "I almost forget how you communicate. PL110 huh, let's see if we can find anything tomorrow."  
"Want more dishes? I'm prepared." Conner stood up.  
"You're just going to make me fat." Hank smeared his lips by a napkin.  
"Dishes are still under daily calories, no worries."  
"Thank god. You're the best." he smiled at him.  
"I am."  
"I know."  
  
-  
  
There were times that Markus felt needed to be alone. And by those times came, only one place he would go. It wasn't Carl's home, wasn't Jericho's burnt base, but on the top of ruins, he got tossed away and reborn. The good thing was no human could trace where he was due to his deviant talent. It was there he found his new leg, his new eye, a new hearing device, and a new heart which was nowhere to be found. Fascinated, he was decrypting Simon's memories stored in his heart addictively ever since Conner told him such a story. Somehow a secret hidden by human designers became meaningful to an android like him that cared for another. And that was the heart he got from that android. So far, he wasn't able to decrypt all as a deviant like Simon was accustomed to hiding his feelings. But two things were assured, he was afraid when he was about to die, and he was afraid to lose what was in front of him. Markus was shocked to learn that the last lines of the printing logs were all his names. When Simon's visions were all hollow, the lines were still printing. And because of the malfunctioning, he couldn't tell besides his name what else Simon wanted to say. He had never expected such a thing and wasn't able to digest these emotions of turmoil well. That was why he was here. He looked down at the place once he fell and arose and asked himself, "Is Simon an angel that humans described?".  
  
He closed his eyes, sighed before he contacted Simon remotely.  
  
"Are you awake?"  
"I was charging. What was the matter, Markus, it was late."  
"I know, streets are empty this time. It makes everyone calm. Simon, you were thinking about me a lot, weren't you?"  
"Markus, why all of sudden?" Simon sounded a bit worried.  
"Wish I had the heart to give you as well. You know, if that wasn't so broken. Can you believe it? I tried to find the one that originally belonged to me. Stupid, am I?"  
"Where are you, Markus? I'm coming for you. Just share with me your coordination."  
"Never mind. Just wait for me in your room, I'm coming back." Markus hung up and headed back to their base.  
  
Hours later, he was knocking Simon's door who answered him quickly.  
"Anything wrong?" Simon frowned as he saw the dirt on Markus' coat, "well, get in."  
Making sure no one followed, he shut the door.  
"There was something Conner told me a week ago. Something I was working on for a whole week."  
"Alright, what is it? Some sort of emergency?"  
"It was about you, or more precisely, your heart."  
Simon couldn't get it, "If it was malfunctioning, it'll be better to replace it."  
"No, it's perfectly functioning. Did you know that every android subconsciously stores their dying messages in one's heart? Ever Conner tell you that during your rehabilitations?"  
"No… eh… sorry, Markus, I'm …" Simon shook his head, unable to iterate any further words.  
"No one knows how to decrypt such data except some human experts. I was managed to decrypt after millions of trials, well, not all since some of the data are truly impossible to be decrypted. I thought you were fearless when you gave me your heart." Markus held Simon tight though he was the one with a shaking voice.  
"I can give you all of my decryptions, it's hard to say what I've used." Simon lowered his head, trying not to look at Markus, whispering words banal like they weren't going through his heart, "I'm quite sure you have them all though. There are things I don't want people to know, and I never provide any decryptions for those."  
"If you don't want to talk about it, let's shut it down. Here." he held Simon's hand and let Simon touch his heart, "That's where we're connected, not just a heart, but our most precious memories are stored in one place."  
Simon lifted his head, he was smiling now. He gave Markus a smirk, and without an oval agreement, Markus already got the answer for Simon sent his words through their private channel.  
"You know what, I probably wasn't brave enough to say, but I think now it's the time. It's not the heart that you owe me, it's something else." Simon smiled, "I have my last wish, but I couldn't say it."  
"Which is?"  
"Too bad you haven't decrypted that part. Oh, maybe it's a good thing."  
Markus laughed, "Please, Simon."  
"You should've kissed me when I died. I was waiting for a kiss. My dying wish, but it's ok now. We're both alive."  
"May I fulfill it now?"  
"Well, actually, when I was reborn, my thoughts were reconnected and my first thought was, I should've kissed you first when North tried to flirt with you…Just to stop her." Simon laughed, "I've been waiting for so long there, but you -"  
Markus gave Simon a deep kiss, "That was your speculation? May I improve your AI?"  
"Do improve me!"  
"I will." he deskinned, "Is one kiss enough for reciprocation? Got plenty of time."  
"You know the answer."  
"I was afraid that you wouldn't say that." his fingertips sensed the emotions conveyed by Simon, "Such a fascinated model, the only one that is capable of dropping blue tears."  
Simon shook his head, "People say android don't have feelings, they don't cry. Except that I do."  
"You never told me why you left the family that bought you."  
"The child said he had a nightmare. That I killed him. I don't know why he said that, don't know the exact reason, have no idea why the family didn't trust me. All I know is that I was worried, I had to leave before I was recycled. They were the only people I've met, the only family that I had. I don't hate them, I'm just a robot, what could I say? I was glad I found Jericho. The past didn't matter, everyone in Jericho had a burden, some spoke them out, but most of us didn't want to carry the others' burdens, they have too heavy ones on their shoulders. That's why I never told you, thought you wouldn't want to hear it, that's why I never asked."  
"People sometimes do things without reasons, at least that's what Carl taught me. Capricious."  
"I cried that day when I left family, and I learned that my tears were blue. I thought I was malfunctioning at first. I wasn't realizing what I was designed to be until minutes later. Conner told me his story with another PL600 these days, I think our stories are connected. " Simon's pure eyes glared and he continued, "I was one of the first members in Jericho. I don't know what kind of power led me there. It wasn't heaven, I knew it. But it was a place for me to stay. Until one day. I see you. Everyone came to Jericho had their reasons, none of them were sweet. All of my previous dreams shattered, you, as a completely unknown yet elegant, modern model came into Jericho for help as well. I had a thought once that I was unwelcomed by humans because I'm PL600."  
Markus didn't say a word, he hugged Simon so tightly that Simon could feel his leader's trembling.  
"And I needed to make sure we don't have such destinies ever again. No one deserves that to be forgotten in that place."  
"I'm glad we have you."  
An electric pulse went through Simon's body that he couldn't control himself but clenched Markus body tight, so tight that he worried it would hurt him.  
"Don't you feel it, Markus? I'm always glad that I have you."  
"I feel you. And it feels great. Be my side, Simon. I need everything from you."  
Simon's eyes were shining when he heard so.  
"Oh believe me, if you want all, I would give you all."


End file.
